Wanted
by My Quiet Riot
Summary: Mal finally works up the courage to tell Natara how he really feels for her. Songfic - based off the song "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes. Rated T for Maltara make-out. C:


**Hi! So, yes, another one-shot song fic. C: I'll be super busy this next week, & I won't be able to update a lot... so the string of one-shots are because I won't be able to write much. Anyways, this is based off one of my favorite songs, "Wanted" by Hunter Hayes. YES, this has Maltara in it. AT LAST. I typed this entire thing on my iPod last night, because I was so excited about it. xD I hope you like it; this is one of my favorites. C: Leave a review, perhaps? I really appreciate them; I reply to everyone personally. **

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Mal Fallon had wanted to tell his partner, Natara Williams, his feelings for her for quite a long time. They worked together day in and day out, saving each other's lives on a daily-to-weekly basis. They trusted each other wholly, as it was quite hard not to.

But he had deeper feelings for her than just that. He didn't know how she felt about him, but Mal knew he loved Natara, far beyond the fact that they were partners. He was just waiting for the right opportunity to voice his feelings aloud to her. He even had a song picked out that he would play for her. As of currently, the said opportunity had yet to present itself. When the time was right, though, it would come.

The sound of his cell phone ringing pulled Mal abruptly out of his daydreams. He scrambled across the room to answer it, yanked it from its charger, and managed to pick up on the last ring.

"Mal Fallon," he said into the received, a little out of breath. "How may I help you?"

"Yeah, Mal?" Natara's voice came from the other end, sounding tired and sad.

"Nat?" he asked, a little surprised. "I, uh... What's up? You okay? You sound really... tired."

"I am," she replied, suppressing an exhausted yawn. "I'm, uh... Actually about two feet away from your door right now. I just... Wanted someone to talk to, I guess."

Mal hung up his phone and hurried to the door, where Natara supposedly was. He opened it to find her standing there, as promised, looking every bit as tired as she sounded. She had on a plain-black t-shirt that scooped down to a modest level; blue-jeans that looked like they had been worn quite frequently, were matched with worn-out tennis-shoes. Her hair was, for the most part, straight like usual, aside from several stray pieces hanging partly in her face. She wore little-to-no makeup; most of it looked as if it had been rubbed off, small smudges of black still under her tired brown eyes. She looked like she had been crying recently. Amidst all of that, though, she still looked beautiful. As always.

"Hey," she said weakly, briefly glancing up and meeting Mal's gaze. "Sorry for my... appearance," she muttered, indicating her face and clothes.

"It's okay," Mal said, reaching out and gingerly tucking the few stray strands of dark hair behind her ear.

"Are you... What's wrong?" He wasn't used to seeing Natara in casual clothes, let alone in this kind of emotional state. He gently took her by the hand and led her to the couch. She sat down and sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Nat?" he asked again, sitting down beside her. "What's wrong?"

Natara looked away. She felt burning tears, threatening to spill over. She bit her lip and blinked hard to hold them back.

"I... I broke up with Oscar," she said quickly, looking down. "Yesterday. I just... I'm not... In love with him. I love him, but I'm not in love. I don't know. He, er, wasn't expecting it, and he took it pretty hard... and now I feel completely horrible. I mean, he didn't get mad or anything, but he was just... obviously really hurt."

She looked down again, as if suddenly very interested in something on the floor. As hard as she fought against her emotions, a few stubborn tears slipped out anyways.

Mal reached up and lightly brushed one away. "Why do you feel so horrible?" he asked gently.

"I feel bad that I let him down, and that I wasn't what he deserved; and also because I wasted his time and got his hopes up, because of my stupid fear of saying 'no' to his proposal in the first place. I should have said no; I knew I wasn't ready."

Mal looked into her eyes, where hurt and guilt were clearly registered. He hated to see her like this. He reached out and gently put his arms around her, enveloping her in a hug. He felt Natara relax into him, and her thin arms slipped around his muscular frame, hugging him back. She leaned her cheek into the soft, sky-blue fabric of Mal's t-shirt, trying to prevent more tears from falling. After several long moments, she pulled back, wiping her eyes.

Mal quickly decided it was now or never; he had to tell Natara how he felt.

"Look," Mal said cautiously. "This may not be the best time for this, but I need to do this before my nerves get the best of me once again."

Natara nodded, watching silently as Mal quickly crossed the room and plugged his iPod into his iHome, scrolling a bit before a song's opening notes began to play.

"This is what I've wanted to tell you for so long... And I still can't fully describe it in my own words. I'd sing this to you myself, but I don't think that would be very appealing. So... Just listen."

_You know I'd fall apart without you_  
_I don't know how you do what you do_  
_'Cause everything that don't make sense about me_  
_Makes sense when I'm with you_

Natara glanced up at Mal, startled, but he just nodded towards the iPod, in a gesture to keep listening.

_Like everything that's green, girl_, _I need you_  
_'Cause it's more than one and one makes two_  
_Put aside the math and the logic of it_  
_You gotta know you're wanted too_

Natara grinned at the lyrics, glancing up at Mal again. He grinned back.

_'Cause I wanna wrap you up_  
_Wanna kiss your lips_  
_I wanna make you feel wanted_  
_And I wanna call you mine_  
_Wanna hold your hand forever_  
_And never let you forget it_  
_Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted_

Natara looked up at Mal, still grinning. Mal took this as a good sign, and smiled back. He shifted closer to Natara, and he felt her smile piercing through him, even when he looked down.

_Anyone can tell you you're pretty_  
_And you get that all the time,_  
_I know you do_

Mal slowly reached out and tilted Natara's head up, so she was looking in his eyes. He tucked the few determined strands of hair out of her face again.

_But your beauty's deeper than the makeup_  
_And I wanna show you what I see tonight_

Natara smiled at the lyrics and Mal's touch, suddenly feeling shy. She felt his hand on her face, giving her those silly high-school butterflies in her stomach. She hadn't felt those in a while.

_When I wrap you up_  
_When I kiss your lips_  
_I wanna make you feel wanted_  
_And I wanna call you mine_  
_Wanna hold your hand forever_  
_And never let you forget it_  
_Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted_

Natara couldn't help but blush at the words, as she sat soaking in the pretty music and lyrics.

_As good as you make me feel_  
_I wanna make you feel better_  
_Better than your fairy tales_  
_Better than your best dreams_

Natara laughed softly, smiling at the ground.

_You're more than everything I need_  
_You're all I've ever wanted_  
_All I've ever wanted_

_And I just wanna wrap you up_  
_Wanna kiss your lips_  
_I wanna make you feel wanted_  
_I wanna call you mine_  
_Wanna hold your hand forever_  
_And never let you forget it_  
_Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted_

As the last several bars of music played, Mal leaned in and met his lips with hers. He felt her kiss back, and he savored it.

Eventually she pulled back, smiling at him.

"What was that for?" Natara asked leaning back, as she sat blushing and smiling like an idiot.

"That," he said, looking directly into her mesmerizing brown eyes, "Was because you are gorgeous,"

She stifled a laugh as he went in to kiss her again.

"That one," he said again, "Was because you are the smartest, bravest, and most beautiful girl in the world,"

She blushed even harder, staring into his ocean-blue eyes.

"And this one," he said, dropping his voice and kissing her again, "Is because I love you."

Natara was a momentarily startled by the last three words, but quickly adapted, leaning back to inspect him playfully.

"What?" he asked, laughter in his smile and eyes.

"Oh, nothing," she said with a huge grin. "Just this." She leaned in and kissed him again, harder this time. She wrapped her arms around him, and felt his arms around her as well. She took in the scent of his cologne, and felt him kissing back just as hard, tangling his hands in her hair. Mal felt Natara smile mid-kiss, making him smile as well.

After what several wonderful moments later, Mal pulled back, a massive smile plastered on his face.

"What was that for?" he teased, brushing hair out of Natara's face.

"That," she said, grabbing his other hand, entwining her fingers with his and staring into his eyes, "Was because I love you, too."


End file.
